Thursday, 23 April, 2009

Planning for Resilient Cities

Timothy Beatley : 7:00 Pm
UWM:SARUP Rm 170
2131 E. Hartford Avenue

Free and Open to the Public
Sponsored by the UWM Department of Urban Planning, the UWM Alumni Association-Urban Planning Chapter and the Center for Resilient Cities

Timothy Beatley, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities at the University of Virginia, has been selected to be the 2009 Charles Causier Memorial Lecturer. Mr. Beatley, along with Peter Newman and Heather Boyer, is the author of the acclaimed book Resilient Communities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change.

Beatley notes that cities today face an astounding array of serious challenges: climate change, diminishing supplies of oil, and serious resource constraints, on top of the challenges of dealing with a severe global economic downturn. Cities will need to re-think virtually everything, from where and how goods and materials are supplied, how buildings and infrastructure are designed, how and where energy is produced, and the ways in which natural systems are infused and integrated into urban environments, among many others. Many in the planning and design community now advocate a new approach—the need to envision and move towards resilient cities.
This lecture will explore the meaning of resilience for cities and urban populations, the challenges faced ahead, and some of the important planning and policy strategies that will help cities become more resilient. Beatley will review key findings and recommendations of his book and will present promising examples of North American, European and Australian cities taking steps to move in the direction of resilience.

Timothy Beatley holds a PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the Teresa Heinz Professor of Sustainable Communities, in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia, where he has taught for the last twenty years. Much of Beatley’s work focuses on the subject of sustainable communities, and creative strategies by which cities and towns can fundamentally reduce their ecological footprints, while at the same time becoming more livable and equitable places.
The Charles Causier Memorial Lecture is held annually at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Department of Urban Planning in honor of the late alumnus and colleague. Charles Causier worked passionately as a professional planner, citizen planner and inspirational educator. This year marks the sixth year of the Causier Lecture, whose previous lecturers include: Richard Longworth, Alexander Garvin, Anthony Downs, Scott Bernstein and Barbara Harwood.

Speaker Web sites:

http://www.arch.virginia.edu/faculty/TimothyBeatley/

http://www.resilientcitiesbook.org/

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